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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. foot — a measure
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. spring — a coil
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. perch — the fish
  11. snap — to click
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. spring — the season
  16. ground — a position
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. clip — a video
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. ground — crushed
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. ground — the earth
  23. spring — of water
  24. deal — to handle

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com